Cisco Catalyst Switches Reviews

We mainly use it for user access in corporate offices, but we have been working on certain projects that require using XE access to support APIs and network connectivity. 

I highly appreciate the durability and the availability. It is also proven to be a very reliable solution that ensures stable and consistent network performance. 

Facilitating and adapting the security updates would be a good improvement because it usually requires use to reboot the router to get them. The whole process is slightly complex and it could be easier. 

I have been using Cisco Catalyst Switches for ten years. 

It offers excellent stability. There are some switches with twenty years of uptime which is quite an impressive number. 

Catalyst Switches provide scalability and accommodate different network demands. 

The quality of the customer support that is provided depends on the line of the product and the model that is used. Sometimes, the first level of support is basic, but mostly it is good. Their customer service is available at all times. I rate it seven out of ten. 

The initial setup might be significantly challenging for clients who are not familiar with its intricacies. Their advanced features and configuration options require knowledgeable IT professionals to implement them. 

Once the solution is set up, the process of deployment and configuration is almost seamless. It takes around one hour to be fully completed.

I find the price to be just right, it is not cheap, but it is not expensive. The solution provides a good balance between the features and the cost structure. They offer many options regarding the licensing so it is easy to choose one option that adapts to the needs of the customer. 

I strongly recommend this solution because it delivers high-performance switching, enabling fast data transfer rates with minor to no bugs. I rate it nine and a half out of ten. 

We use a lot of security features available with Cisco Catalyst Switches. Cisco Catalyst Switches' output is not bad, and it has a lot of ports.

Cisco Catalyst Switches is an expensive solution and its price could be improved. The lifetime of the equipment is not enough because our customers face problems when they need to change the equipment. As applications and software demand more output, vendors focus on increasing the throughput of newer equipment. However, this often leads to the discontinuation of support and warranty for older equipment.

I have been working with Cisco Catalyst Switches for more than 15 years.

I rate Cisco Catalyst Switches a seven out of ten for stability because sometimes we have problems with the software.

I rate Cisco Catalyst Switches an eight out of ten for scalability. Cisco Catalyst Switches support the clustering of several switches. Our clients are mostly small enterprises with nearly five thousand employees.

With each passing year, the knowledge of support engineers for Cisco Catalyst Switches is getting worse. Cisco TAC was in Europe and North America but moved to Mexico, China, India, and the Middle East last year. Although work is cheaper in these locations, they don't have knowledgeable customer support staff.

Neutral

We have previously worked with HP, Juniper, and Dell.

I rate Cisco Catalyst Switches a nine out of ten for its initial setup. The solution has no IP address, and you need a special cable to connect to them. This special cable is not free, and without the cable, you cannot configure the solution. The deployment of Cisco Catalyst Switches takes around 60 minutes.

Cisco Catalyst Switches' deployment is very easy. You can use it from the box if you don't need any specific configuration. If we have any deployment-related questions, we open a ticket in Cisco TAC, and their engineers resolve our problems.

Cisco Catalyst Switches is an expensive solution. I rate Cisco Catalyst Switches a four out of ten for pricing.

Cisco Catalyst Switches have a lot of features that we don't use, but we pay for them. Most Cisco equipment comes with a subscription, which is not free. However, our customers do not use this subscription. If you have enough money, better use Cisco because the technical support of other vendors is worse than Cisco.

Overall, I rate Cisco Catalyst Switches a seven out of ten.

We are mostly using the Cisco Catalyst 2900 Series, but some are the new 900 Series and a mixture of a lot of solutions. More than 300 people are working on Cisco Catalyst switches.

Catalyst switches are highly reliable. They have a good product life, they are balanced overall compared to others.

We sometimes have issues using Cisco Catalyst switches in a mixed environment. For example, we are using Fortinet's firewall, so if we jump to Cisco, then we have a problem. If we need another solution for MAC filtering, we need to go for IEEE or AAA. 

Cisco needs to improve compatibility with other solutions and other vendors like SolarWinds. We've had problems using Catalyst with SolarWinds. Some devices can't be put on SolarWinds due to some ID Values and so on. 

They need to show some flexibility because no environment depends on one product. And when we add new solutions for monitoring, troubleshooting, etc., we need integration with our Cisco devices. I think it would be great if Cisco could improve its integration with other vendors in the future.

We've used Cisco Catalyst for the last four years. 

Cisco Catalyst switches are stable. No question about it.

TAC is a wonderful service. They are cooperative and professional. They do great in the case of RMA or case of troubleshooting.

We tried Juniper HP and some other solutions.

Setting up Catalyst switches is complex. We have about four or five Cisco-certified technicians to look after these things.

The price of Cisco Catalyst switches is reasonable. 

I rate Cisco Catalyst seven out of 10. I definitely recommend Cisco switches as a complete solution. 

I've utilized Cisco Catalyst Switches on a DNA center. I've also used it for many solutions, e.g. in universities, telecom companies, and other commercial institutions.

I've implemented many solutions that contain Cisco Catalyst Switches, call switches, abbreviation switches, and access switches on Cisco design solutions. I worked on a network that contained more than 100 Cisco Catalyst Switches in some of the universities.

I use Cisco Catalyst Switches and I implement most of the technology with that content in IOS.

I like Cisco Catalyst Switches because most of the time, we can do what we want with the product. Cisco has good guidelines that enable us to implement anything, so we can have a multiple ability product on most of the network equipment worldwide.

Cisco has communities or forums that help us implement more complicated areas in terms of network, so in addition, Cisco is not just a network equipment company, because they provide us most of the solutions, development, protocols, and new technologies, more than any other company in the world.

I also like the availability of Cisco Catalyst Switches, including scalability and reliability. You can find all these in this product.

Pricing for Cisco Catalyst Switches is on the higher end, compared to its competitors, and is something that could be improved. Security could also be increased.

I've been working with Cisco Catalyst Switches for 15 years, and still working with it and other Cisco products currently.

I find this product stable.

This product is scalable.

We count on the technical support of Cisco in many ways, and we have different ways of contacting them. We can open a ticket, use the Cisco community forum online to provide us support, and give them a call to solve any problems that arise.

I've installed a lot of Cisco Catalyst Switches and I never had any problems with the installation, including the installation of other Cisco products, e.g. routers, firewalls, etc.

Some switches need a license, while some don't. Cisco Catalyst Switches has different types of licenses that could count as versions, e.g. version 12.4. 12.4 is a version we can't provide because we don't have a license for it, but Cisco Catalyst Switches from IOS version 15 and up, we need to purchase a license for all features if you want to run them on Cisco Catalyst Switches. Version 15 is better than 12.4, and version 15 has a better license, when compared to other Cisco Catalyst Switches licenses.

Cisco Catalyst Switches are not one of the cheapest switches in the market. There are a lot of products that are cheaper, e.g. HP, Huawei, Netgear, but they don't provide us with the availability, possibility, etc., we need, which Cisco can provide.

HP could provide us with cheaper switches, with a lot of security features and stability, but it's not absolute, compared to what Cisco Catalyst Switches can provide.

Juniper switches can also provide us with more security and stability without any problem, so it can be a Cisco competitor product we can use.

I was able to evaluate HP, Netgear, and Juniper switches.

I've worked with all Cisco products, e.g. routers, ASA firewall, switches, etc. I started working with them 15 years ago.

More than 500 employees in our company use this product. We have more than 1,000 network equipment that utilize Cisco Catalyst Switches.

My rating for Cisco Catalyst Switches is a nine out of ten.

My primary use case is providing Catalyst switches for the edge and campus networking. You may have lots of IoT switches, like surveillance access points and you need to implement IPE switches that deliver the power and networking through the endpoint sensors. Most of these are considered access switches. We then implement the distribution layer that links all of the access switches and network traffic, then move to the course switches that handle all the packets and connect all the buildings to each other. After, the core is connected to the firewall, from Cisco as well, to get out of building to the internet. So the core portfolio comes from access to the core. I end with the firewall and the routers to the internet.

Cisco's support is called SMARTnet, but we provide support to customers in case of any troubleshooting or if it's on-premises. We act as a mid-layer between the customer and Cisco. Most customers deploy it on-premises, but some prefer to build their own private cloud. 

The most valuable feature is that Cisco comes with built-in software access for network devices. You may use SDN for SD-Access, so you don't need to configure each switch with its own configuration, but can deploy the configuration from a single point of management. You can also monitor the traffic and access for the users. Especially if they are using their own laptops, you can make a VLAN for each switch. Cisco is a very stable portfolio format considering the network features and the heavy duties of traffic.

The prices could be improved. Cisco is dedicated to providing their customers with the latest technology, but it comes with a price. It's very expensive and when compared to competitors' products, like HP or Aruba, this is the most expensive one. 

I can't think of any additional features I would like to see in the next version. The features included are sufficient. 

I have been working with Cisco Catalyst for more than ten years. 

Cisco is famous for its stability and operating system. It's a very stable platform for heavy-duty network traffic. 

Catalyst is easy to scale, especially because of stacking. The stack member can reach out to each member per the tech stack group as well as for Catalyst. As long as you have a sufficient number of ports in the core and distribution, you can scale and connect as much as you need in the access layers. If you exceed the number of ports existing in the distribution, you can add another distribution layer and connect them together to extend the number of endpoints. 

I have been satisfied with technical support. Especially when it comes to hardware attachments, their response is very fast, and almost by the next business day, we're able to go and replace it on-premises for a customer. 

The process was simple and straightforward. Most of us started our first year by taking Cisco courses, so we are talented at implementing and configuring Cisco switches. It depends on the project, but if you are looking at full premises with maybe 20 switches, the setup should take around three or four days. 

We implemented through an in-house team. We are partnered with Cisco and have our own professional service team certification in data center, networking, security, and collaboration systems. 

This is expensive, even when compared to competitors' products. 

The Catalyst doesn't come with licensing, but it comes with models. It comes with nine key series, each with its own purpose: some are for access, some for distribution, and some for the core, so it's not a matter of licensing. The only licensing that you are using with Catalyst is either the Essential or Advantage licensing, which represents Layer 2 or Layer 3 switches. If you are going to use Layer 3 for routing, use the Advantage license. Otherwise, use the Essential license, which is meant for the access switches. 

Dell EMC has a magnificent working portfolio, but customers still may not trust its durability and reliability. Most customers will choose Cisco rather than Dell EMC, even though Dell EMC has a reliable reputation and is very cost-effective. Yet, from my side as a partner and someone who works a lot with technology, I would recommend Dell EMC for customers with a smaller budget that needs a flexible and a cost-effective solution, rather than picking a small solution from Cisco. I would commit to buying a large solution from Dell EMC, then going with a reliable solution provider. 

I would recommend Cisco Catalyst for its abilities, durability, and the support. Cisco is very familiar—all engineers know Cisco very well—and we can handle the troubleshooting and configuration. 

The Advantage license is suitable for large companies. All of the oil and gas sectors use the Advantage license for their switches. Even they are not going to use all the layers or access switches, but they invest a lot and have a huge budget for networking. For a small or medium company, you could use and split the Essential license and the Advantage one based on building needs in order to optimize the cost and make sure your solution is cost-effective.

I would rate Cisco a nine out of ten. Not a ten because of the high price. 

Cisco offers good switches. In Pakistan, there are a lot of customers who are Cisco lovers, and they also use Cisco's firewall products.

The features of Cisco that I find to be the most valuable or effective are its network security and speed.

My company cannot import Cisco products in Pakistan due to some L/C issues. Cisco can consider the aforementioned details related to imports for improvement.

The product's high price is an area of concern where improvements are required.

I have been using Cisco Catalyst Switches for more than three years. I sell the product to my company's clients in Pakistan and don't use it personally.

It is a stable solution.

It is a scalable solution. The product is also flexible.

My company deals with around 50 customers who use the product.

The quality of support services provided by the product is good. You can open a ticket with the support team and also use Cisco's RMA option, which is quite a speedy process.

The product's support team is good, and it is easy to open a ticket. The product's technical team responds to a user's queries in a few hours or minutes.

The product's initial setup phase was easy.

There is a manual from Cisco that can be followed to deploy the product, and our company's clients mostly use it since it helps them take care of the deployment process by themselves. Our company's clients don't seek help from my organization for deployment. Our company's clients will only approach us if they get stuck somewhere with the deployment process.

For the deployment process, there is a portal maintained by Cisco where you can log in and take care of the configuration part. Cisco provides guidance with the steps involved in the deployment, and one can easily follow them. The user dashboard in Cisco's hotel can be helpful for those who are involved in deploying the product.

The new products from Cisco in the market are expensive. My company cannot import Cisco products, so they are mostly unavailable.

My company's clients pay yearly for the licensing costs attached to the solution.

The product was helpful in improving the network performance for our company's clients, considering that I have dealt with a few companies who are quite satisfied with Cisco's technical features because, on a monthly basis, they acquire five to six Cisco tools from my organization. Our company's clients can't afford the new equipment provided by Cisco and mostly prefer to purchase refurbished equipment. Our company's customers are satisfied with refurbished equipment.

The product is reliable from a security perspective since it offers a secure VPN.

The product's ease of management has improved our company's operational efficiency since Cisco supports configuration or troubleshooting issues.

I recommend the product to those who plan to use it.

Integrating the product with other network tools impacts our company's IT infrastructure since it is an easy process to integrate, deploy, and configure the tool.

The product's users experience many benefits, considering that it is a scalable and reliable tool. Cisco places a strong emphasis on security. Cisco offers a range of features to protect its users' networks. The product secures its users' networks from cyber threats. It is easy to deploy and configure, and its support is good. I sell a lot of Cisco refurbished or used equipment in Pakistan. People love to use Cisco in Pakistan. There are a lot of Cisco lovers in the market who won't switch from it to some other brand. Some of our customers have been using Cisco for many years. I have suggested other brands to my company's customers, but they are stuck with Cisco due to its great features.

I rate the overall product an eight and a half out of ten.

The most valuable features of the solution are BGP, VPN, and spine-leaf architecture. The solution has good scalability. The solution’s configuration is easy.

The solution’s licensing could be improved.

I have been using Cisco Catalyst Switches for 13 years.

I rate the solution ten out of ten for stability.

The solution has good scalability. Around 8,000 users use Cisco Catalyst Switches in our organization.

I rate the solution a nine out of ten for scalability.

I previously used Juniper.

The solution’s initial setup is easy.

Cisco Catalyst Switches is a very expensive solution.

I would recommend the solution to other users.

Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten.

I use the product to connect computers to the local area network.

The solution is durable. We have a lot of power fluctuations, yet the product works well. It is user-friendly.

The product must improve its security. It should be more intelligent. The optimization features must be faster. It must follow in tandem with technology.

I have been using the solution for around ten years.

The tool is very stable. I rate the stability a ten out of ten.

I rate the tool’s scalability a seven out of ten. We plan to replace all our switches. We will choose Cisco.

Cisco has a lot of layers of support. We won’t have a problem with support. The support is very good.

I rate the ease of setup an eight out of ten. It is plug-and-play. The setup is straightforward.

The product is quite expensive.

The solution is good. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We are mainly deploying the tool for client requirements.

The product is convenient to deploy.

The stability must be improved.

I have been using the solution for 20 years.

Sometimes, when we do upgrades, the tool goes down. We purchased a new one, but it didn’t go well.

The tool is highly scalable. Our clients are mostly enterprises.

The initial setup is easy. We deploy the tool mostly in the cloud. Someone in our team will be physically connected to the console and give us access to the network. Then, we deploy it remotely. The deployment can be done in half an hour. We connect the key ports, get the network management configurations, and deploy the product.

We’re a service provider. If people find the price to be competitive, they choose Catalyst. Otherwise, they go with other vendors. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

The main use case usually depends on the client itself. We are operating as system integrators with numerous customers and different software vendors. 

When deciding on the system, most of the clients check for switching capacity and Cisco Catalyst Switches is a very good solution for that purpose. It enables fast data transfer rates while offering stable and consistent network performance. 

With most of the Cisco devices and models, we faced a slight decrease in speed during the initial setup and while restarting the system. The performance of the solution itself is really good. 

I have been employing this solution for a year and a half. 

I would rate the stability ten out of ten. 

The scalability depends on the device that is used and the client's requests, but overall, it is a scalable solution that can accommodate growing network demands. 

Cisco provides comprehensive support and advanced management capabilities, including remote configuration and monitoring options. We had a small issue with the data center so we had to engage with the tech team, and their service was exceptional. I rate it ten out of ten. 

Positive

The initial setup was not complex at all. The only issue with the setup is that it takes a lot of time for the system to be deployed. 

The deployment of the solution is based on specific networking needs so the timing and the whole process depends on the complexity of the project.

I would say that the pricing of the solution falls within the moderate to higher range. It is still quite reasonable for the provided service. I rate it seven out of ten.

I highly recommend Cisco Catalyst Switches as they facilitate the creation of network segments and VLAN configurations for smooth traffic management and security. I rate it ten out of ten.